The ongoing agitation by villagers of Karapur-Sravan against the proposed ‘House of Abhinandan Lodha’ project has entered its 150th day, with protesters urging Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant to personally intervene and address their concerns.

The development comes amid contrasting claims from the Karapur-Sravan panchayat and the protesters over the agitation and issues surrounding the proposed project.

During Zero Hour in the Goa Legislative Assembly, Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao raised the issue of the prolonged protest and said the villagers had been forced to remain on agitation for nearly five months due to the Government’s failure to address their concerns.

Alemao urged Chief Minister Sawant to initiate a dialogue with the villagers. Responding to the demand, Sawant assured the House that he would meet the Karapur-Sravan villagers on Thursday.

The protesters have maintained that their agitation is aimed at protecting the village’s environment, natural resources and identity. They said they are not opposed to development but do not want a project that they believe could threaten the ecological balance and future of the village.

Over the past 150 days, various social, political and environmental groups and individuals have visited the protest site and extended support to the villagers. However, the protesters expressed disappointment that the Government had not made adequate efforts to engage with them.

They have urged the Chief Minister to meet them personally, hear their grievances and examine their objections and demands concerning the project.

Meanwhile, members of the Karapur-Sravan panchayat, at a press conference, claimed that a recent alleged extortion case involving Siddhesh Tari and Pritesh Salgaonkar had brought several aspects surrounding the agitation into focus.

The panchayat members alleged that Tari had, over the past few months, accused panchayat members of accepting money from the project’s builder and supporting the project. They claimed that such allegations were aimed at misleading villagers and creating an atmosphere against the panchayat.

The panchayat further alleged that the alleged extortion case had raised questions about what was taking place in the name of the agitation and claimed that the involvement of certain individuals had diverted the direction of the protest and affected the atmosphere in the village.

Panchayat member Ujwala Kavlekar was also accused of contributing to an atmosphere against the panchayat and allegedly misleading villagers. These allegations, however, remain claims made by the panchayat, and the concerned persons’ independent response has not been included.

The panchayat members also alleged that Gram Sabha meetings, panchayat meetings and other official proceedings had faced repeated disruptions over the past five months, delaying collective decisions on the village’s core issues.

Despite the differences surrounding the agitation, the panchayat said it would continue working with villagers to pursue their interests and seek a lawful resolution to the Mahaproject issue.

The protesters, meanwhile, appealed to the Chief Minister to ensure that Karapur residents are not subjected to injustice and called for his personal intervention to protect the village from what they described as a potentially destructive project.